Oklahoma “Egg As Person” and Heartbeat Bills Pass House Committee

Tired of waiting for voters to simply agree with them that a fertilized egg should be provided the same rights as a fully born human, Personhood Oklahoma has decided to go through the legislature to give human rights to fertilized eggs.

A House committee has passed a “fertilized egg-as-person” bill, and preparations are now in progress to bring it up for a floor vote soon, despite the likelihood of a lawsuit if the bill passes.

“This is going to cost the taxpayers of Oklahoma money,” said Martha Skeeters, of Norman, president of the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice. About two dozen women from the group, many wearing pink shirts, listened to lawmakers debate the bill.

“This is really outrageous,” Skeeters said. “It’s very disturbing that the committee fails to realize how dangerous this bill is for Oklahoma women. It interferes with the treatment of pregnant women.”

The bill was passed 10-1 in committee, where no one was allowed to testify for or against it. While they were at it, the committee also approved a bill that would make women who want to terminate their pregnancies listen to the heartbeat of the embryo or fetus first.

Despite legislation working its way through the political system, Personhood Oklahoma is pursuing its ballot initiative as well.

I see that some people would like to go back to the old, “Woman as Vessel” concept common before the Enlightenment. As ridiculous as these types of proposals are, people should take them seriously and push back. I am a collector of antique maps, and those who have studied cartography (that’s map-making) through the ages know how easily knowledge can be lost. During the Dark Ages the Catholic Church outlawed all documents that weren’t part of the Bible–including maps. Much of Europe lost the knowledge of map making. Fortunately, (and ironically in some ways), this skill was kept alive by Islamic scholars, and European mapmakers were able to pick up the technology from them.

Scientific knowledge can be lost and has been in the past. Rights can also be lost. Certainly, there are some zealots–like these folks–who would like to send women back to the Dark Ages.